Electric switch.



A. F. WILLIAMS & E. A. HALBLEIB.

ELECTRIC SWITCH.

APPLICATION FILED A1111. 22, 1915. REIIEwED IAN. 9. 1911.

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fifi @FEHEE AE1 THQNY 'WILLMS AND .EDWARD ji.. -ILELEHE, 0F ROCHESTER,.NEW YGRK, ASSIGNRS T0 N ORTE- EAST ELECTREC COMPANY, @F ROCHESTER., NEWYQRK, A

OF NEVI YGRK.

Application iled April 2.2, 1935,

To all whom t may @caceres i Be it known that we, ANTHoNr F. WIL- LIAMSand ltnwnnn A. HALBLEm, citizens of United States, and residents ofRochester, in the county of Monroe and State of New York, have inventedcertain new and useful improvements in Electric Switches, of which tuefollowing is specification.

This invention relates particularly to electric switches such as areemployed in connection with electric currents which are of sumcientvolume to produce harmful arcing or heating, and in which, accordingly,it is desirable to make provision, either by a snap-action or otherwise,for diminishing such effects. i

@ne object of the invention is to so form and move thecircuit-controlling contacts that any heating or arcing which occursbetween them shall not be localized on the contact-members, but shallbedistributed over Surfaces of an area which is great in comparison withthe current conducted. To this end we employ contact-members having Widecontact-surfaces, and instead ofA causing these surfaces to be engagedand disengaged by the usual. wiping action, we employ a mechanism formoving one of the contactmembers toward and from the other in adirection at an angle to the contact-surfaces, while holding thesesurfaces parallel. In this manner the arcing is not confined to' theedges of the contact-members, as in switches where they have a slidingvor wiping engagement and disengagement, but is distributed oversurfacesof wide area which are equidistant at all points at the moment when thearc is drawn. By the same arrangement the closure of the circuit'occursby the engagement'of the contact-members over wide surfaces.

To further distribute the effects of arcing over the Contact surfaces weemploy an arf rangement lsuch that the movable contactmember, inaddition toits circuit-controlling movement, has a moreor less Vfreeindependent'rotative movement by which the parts of its contact-surfacewhich engagel any particular points of contact onl the fixed contact-memer may be constantly changedfthus distributing wear equally overSpecification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb@ 20, 1917@ the .contactsurfaceso lThis 'is' convenientlyaccomplished, in the preferred embodiment of the invention, by impartingto the movable contact-member a helical, or combined rotative and axialfrom the fixed contact-member, and by permitting the movablecontact-member, in adn dition, a free independent rotative movement.

Another object of the invention is to provide, in a simple and effectivemanner, for giving the movable contact-member a sudden or snapraction inboth closing and opening the circuit, and for this purpose we employactuating-means comprising a spring which is connected, at one end, toan eccentric point on the means by which the movable contact-member isrotated, and at the other end to a manually-operable member arranged toswing the spring alternatelyto one side' or the other of the yaxis ofrotation of the movable contact-member.

L Another object of the invention is to produce a. switch in which the.operative members shall be incased, but in which the several parts maybe conveniently assembled in coperative relation while open toinspection. For this purpose we employ an arrangement in which thecasing of the switch is in two parts, and in which the contact-membersvare'assembled, as an operative organization, on one part of the casing,and vthe actuating-mechanism is assembled, as an operative organization,on the other part of the casing, so that when the two parts of movement,toward and the casing are separated these two organizations lare bothcomplete in themselves, and therefore conveniently subject to adjustmentor to inspection of their operation.

In the accompanying drawings z- Figure lisa vertical median section of aswitch embodyingthe presentinvention, with the movable parts shown in aninternmediate position to bring them into the secrtion-planeg; e

f Fig. 2 is a horizontal section on the line lQ QinFiggzl; 7 i

Fig. 3 is a horizontal section) on the line 3 3 in Fig. 1, with someofthe principal parts broken awayto show the parts below;

i ig. Lis a partial plan-view of the switch,

vsecuring the contact-member to such an extent as to have little4 withcertain parts broken away to show the interior construction;

Fig. 5 is a' detail-view, in vertical section on the line 4-4 in Fig. 3,showing a part of the means for securing the xed contactmembers inplace; and

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of the stud by which the movements of themovable contact-member are directed.

The invention lis illustrated as embodied in a switch having a casingcomprising a plate or cover 10 and a hollow body 22. The plate 10constitutes a base or support for the fixed contact-members, and for themeans by which the movable contact-member is held in cooperativerelation with the/fixed contactmembers. The fixed contact-members areshown as two in number, and they comprise circular curved members 11 and12, which together constitute an annulus divided at two diametricallyopposite points. Fach fixed contact-member is provided, at the middle,with a binding-post 13, which extends through, but is insulated from thebase-plate 10 and constitutes means for both the baseplate andconnecting it with circuit-wires.

At their adjacent ends the fixed contactmembers are secured in place, asshown in Fig. 4, by means of rivets 14, which have heads seated inrecesses in the ends of the contact-members and acting to clamp theseends to the base-plate, insulation being interf posed, however,between'the rivets and the l contact-members.

The movable contact-member is in the form of a flat disk 15. This diskis carried by a sleeve 16 which slides and vrotates on a stud`17 fixedto the base-plate 10.v The stud is provided, as shown in Fig. 5, withpins 18 which are helically arranged so as to engage correspondinghelical slots in' the inner surface of the sleeve 16. When the sleeve isturned upon the stud it consequently has a helical motion thereon, whichmotion is transmitted to the movable contact-member, so that thismember, while held with its fiat lower contact-surface always parallelwith the fiat upper contactsurfaces of the fixed members, moves towardand from the latter with a helical movement. The movable contact-memberis connected with the sleeve 16 by an insulating spool 19, and it isfitted in the, spool with sufiicient looseness of the contact-memberwith respect to the sleeve.

Tt will be apparent that when the movable contact-member is engagedwith, or disengaged from, the fixed contact-members this occurs not atany isolated points of the contact-members, but simultaneouslythroughout wide areas of contact, so that any 'arcing which occurs isdistributed to or no harmto permit a free rotation raides@ ful eect. Ttwill also be apparent that tht provision for free rotative movement ofthe contact-member 15 permits this member to rotate indefinitely, inconsequence of vibrations or of the opening and closing movement of theswitch, in such a manner as to bring new points into engagement with"any' definite points on the fixed contact-members, thus distributingequally over the contactsurfaces such wear asmay occur. Since themovable contact-member is supported in its middle portion, it is alsocapable of such minute rocking movements as may be necessary to insurethat it shall always bear firmly upon both fixed contact-members whenengaged therewith, and thus act to close the electric circuit by forminga path for the current between the two fixed contact-members.

The movable contact-member is slitted radially and is formed of thin andresilient sheet-metal, so that in case any roughness occurs at anyparticular point in either of the contact-surfaces, or any particle offor-" eign matter is interposed between the contact-members, one or moreof the segments of the movable contact-member may yield independentlyand thus permit the proper seating of the rest of the segments. n

The insulating spool 19 is fixed on the sleeve 16 between a collar 2Oanda sheetmetal plate 21, which are both firmly secured to the sleeve,the plate 21 embracing a squared portion on the sleeve, as shown indotted lines in Fig. 2. The plate 21 constitutes means for connectingthe sleeve 16 with the manually-operable actuating-mechanism of theswitch. This actuating-mechanism is mounted on the body 22 of thecasing. Journaled in the top of the casing is a short rock-'shaft 23,`to the outer end of which is fixed an operating-ann 24. This armembraces a squared portion on the rockshaft, and by removing the arm andturnmg it to any of the eight different positions in which it may beplaced on the shaft, the arm may be set in any convenient position foroperation in accordance with the particular installation switch may beused.

Upon the lower end of the rock-shaft 23 is fixed a sheet-metal member25, and a spiral spring 26 is interposed between this member and thecasing, the inner end of the spring being secured to the casing, asshown in Fig. 1, while the outer end is secured to the member 25, asshown in Fig. 3. This spring tends to return the rock-shaft and theoperating-arm to the position of Fig. 3, in` which the arm engages astop 27 ,shown in Fig. 6.

The member 25 has a depending lug 28, to which is attached one end of acoiled tension-spring 29. The other end of this spring is attached tothe middle portion of a il with which the p naieee This cross-bar issecured at its ends to lu s 35 projecting inwardly from the body of thecasing. 4The stud 33 is also seated in an opening in the upper end ofthe stud 17, to insure assembling of the parts in the proper coaxialrelation.

"lfhe U-shaped rocking-member is adapted to swing about its pivotsthrough an angle limited by its engagement with two stoplugs 36 and 3iin the body of the casing. lhis swinging movement is produced by thetension of the spring 29. ln the normal position of the parts, shown inFigs. 2 and 3, the spring 29 extends in a line at one side of the axisof pivotal movement or the U-shaped member, but when the operatingarm isswung to its other position, as shown in Fig. 6, the spring 29 is swungto the opposite side of this axis, and as soon as it has passed the axisits tension causes the rocking-member to be at once swung to theposition shown in Fig. 6. When the operatingarm is permitted to returnto its normal position, under the inuencefof the spring 26, the spring29 has the opposite effect on the rocking-member.

To transmit the movements of the rocking-member to the plate v21 and thesleeve 16, a depending lug 38 is provided at the end of the arm 31,which engages a forked extremity i0 on the plate 21. A similar lug 39 ispunched out and bent downwardly from the rocking-member at the oppositeside of its pivotal axis, this lug engaging the opposite forkedextremity of the plate 21, and in this manner the rocking move-v mentsare transmitted to the sleeve 16, with the results previously described.

The plate 10 is fixed to the body of the casing by screws or in anyconvenient manner. When this plate is removed it carries with it thestud 17, the sleeve 16, and the movable contact-member, so thattheseparts remain as an assembled organization, while, on the other hand, theactuating-mechanism, including the 'rocking-member 30, 31, re-

mains assembled within the body of the casvtrs ing. The operation ofeither of tliesemechanisms may therefore be inspected, and any requiredadjustments made, with the parts of each organization in theircoperative relation. When the plate is replaced on the body of thecasing the operative connections between the two organizations areconveniently effected by the introductionl of the lugs 38 and 39 intothe forked ends of the plate 21.

Our invention is not limited to the embodiment thereof' hereinbeforedescribed and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, but it may beembodied in various other forms within the nature of the invention as`it is defined in the following claims.

W e claim z- '1, An electric switch having, in combination, anactuating-member; means for imparting a helical movement to theactnating-member; a contact-member carried by the actnatinglnember and`having a contactsurface normal to the axis of movement of theactuating-member; and a fixed contactmember having a contact-surfaceparallel with that of the movable contact-member, the movablecontact-member being rotatable with respect to the actuating-member.

:2. An electric switch having, in combination, a plurality of fixedconcentric contactmembers having contact-faces lying in a commonsurface; a movable contact-member coaxial with said surface and having acontact-face complementary tothose of the fixed contact-members; andactuating-means, connected with the middle-portion of the movablecontact-member, for moving it axially toward and .from'the xedcontact-members, the movable contact-member being rotatable axially withrespect to said actuating-means.

3. An electric switch having, in, combination, a fixed contact-member; amovable contact member; actuating mechanism, for

`the movable contact-member, comprising nections, the movablecontact-member be` ing connected with said movable part by connectionspermitting relative rotation of said part and said contact-member; andmeans for rotating said movable part on said fixed part.

5. An electric switch having, in combination, a fixed contact-member; amovable contact-member; a rotatable member for actuating the movablecontact-member; and means, for imparting rapid partial rotations, inopposite directions, to said rotatable member, comprising a springconnected ec-V centrically to the rotatable member, and amanually-operable part connected to the spring and movable to swing thespring to opposite sides of the rotatable member.

6. An electric switch having, in combination, a casing comprising twoseparable taf member associated -with the fixed contactmembers andsupported by, and axiallyl movable upon said support; operatingmechanismmounted on the other casingmember and movable coaxially With the movablecontact-member; and means, for connectingthe movable contact-member andthe operating-mechanism, engageable and disengageable by relative axialmovement of said member and mechanism.

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